मां पुत्रकामः प्रथमं पिता ते ऽङ्गिरसो मुनिः पूर्वमाराधयामास तपस्तीव्रं समाश्रितः
Desiring a son, your father, the sage Aṅgiras, first worshipped me in former times, undertaking severe austerity.
ततस्त्वां घोरतपसा प्रावृणोदमितौजसम् उक्तवानहमात्मस्थं महर्षिम् अमितौजसम्
Then, by his fierce austerity, he obtained you, endowed with immeasurable energy; I declared you to be a great sage, abiding in the Self, of boundless might.
कः समुत्सहते चान्यो यो न भूतात्मकात्मजः द्रष्टुमेकार्णवगतं क्रीडन्तं योगवर्त्मना
Who else would have the courage, who is not born of the Lord of beings, to behold me, sporting in the midst of the single ocean, by the path of yoga?
ततः प्रहृष्टवदनो विस्मयोत्फुल्ललोचनः मूर्ध्नि बद्धाञ्जलिपुटो मार्कण्डेयो महातपाः
Then Mārkaṇḍeya, the great ascetic, with face beaming with joy and eyes wide with wonder, joined his hands in reverence upon his head.
नामगोत्रे ततः प्रोच्य दीर्घायुर्लोकपूजितः तस्मै भगवते भक्त्या नमस्कारमथाकरोत्
Having spoken his name and lineage, long-lived and honored by the world, he then made a reverent salutation to the Blessed Lord with devotion.
इच्छेयं तत्त्वतो मायाम् इमां ज्ञातुं तवानघ यदेकार्णवमध्यस्थः शेषे त्वं बालरूपवान्
I wish to know truly this Māyā of yours, O faultless one—how you, in the midst of the single ocean, remain in the form of a child.
किंसंज्ञश्चैव भगवांल् लोके विज्ञायसे प्रभो तर्कये त्वां महात्मानं को ह्यन्यः स्थातुमर्हति
By what name, O Lord, are you known in the world? I ponder upon you, the great soul—who else is worthy to stand firm?
अहं नारायणो ब्रह्मन् सर्वभूतविनाशनः अहं सहस्रशीर्षाख्यो यः पदैरभिसंज्ञितः
I am Nārāyaṇa, O brāhmaṇa, the destroyer of all beings; I am he who is called the Thousand-headed, known by those very names.
आदित्यवर्णः पुरुषो मखे ब्रह्ममयो मखः अहमग्निर्हव्यवाहो यादसां पतिरव्ययः
I am the Person of the color of the sun, the sacrifice filled with Brahman; I am Agni, the bearer of offerings, and the imperishable lord of the waters.
अहमिन्द्रपदे शक्रो वर्षाणां परिवत्सरः अहं योगी युगाख्यस्य युगान्तावर्त एव च
In the station of Indra, I am Śakra; of the rains, I am the year; I am the yogin of the age called Yuga, and the very revolution at the end of the age.
अहं सर्वाणि सत्त्वानि दैवतान्यखिलानि तु भुजंगानामहं शेषस् तार्क्ष्यो वै सर्वपक्षिणाम्
I am all beings, indeed all the gods; among serpents, I am Śeṣa, and among all birds, I am Tārkṣya.
कृतान्तः सर्वभूतानां विश्वेषां कालसंज्ञितः अहं धर्मस्तपश्चाहं सर्वाश्रमनिवासिनाम्
I am Death, called Time, of all beings and of all the worlds; I am Dharma and I am austerity, for all who dwell in every order of life.
अहं चैव सरिद्दिव्या क्षीरोदश्च महार्णवः यत्तत्सत्यं च परमम् अहमेकः प्रजापतिः
I am all the divine rivers, the ocean of milk, and the great sea; that which is the supreme truth—I alone am the Lord of creatures.
अहं सांख्यमहं योगो ऽप्यहं तत्परमं पदम् अहमिज्या क्रिया चाहम् अहं विद्याधिपः स्मृतः
I am Sāṃkhya, I am Yoga, and I am that supreme state; I am worship and ritual, and I am known as the Lord of knowledge.
अहं ज्योतिरहं वायुर् अहं भूमिरहं नभः अहमापः समुद्राश्च नक्षत्राणि दिशो दश
I am the light, I am the wind, I am the earth, I am the sky; I am the waters and the oceans, the stars and the ten directions.
अहं वर्षमहं सोमः पर्जन्यो ऽहमहं रविः क्षीरोदसागरे चाहं समुद्रे वडवामुखः
I am the rain, I am the moon, I am the raincloud, I am the sun; in the ocean of milk I am present, and in the sea I am the submarine fire.
वह्निः संवर्तको भूत्वा पिबंस्तोयमयं हविः अहं पुराणः परमं तथैवाहं परायणम्
Becoming the consuming fire, I drink the watery oblation; I am the ancient one, the supreme, and likewise I am the ultimate goal.
अहं भूतस्य भव्यस्य वर्तमानस्य संभवः यत्किंचित्पश्यसे विप्र यच्छृणोषि च किंचन
I am the origin of what has been, what will be, and what is; whatever you see, O sage, and whatever you hear—of that too.
यल्लोके चानुभवसि तत्सर्वं मामनुस्मर विश्वं सृष्टं मया पूर्वं सृज्यं चाद्यापि पश्य माम्
Whatever you experience in this world, remember all that as me; the universe was created by me before, and even now is to be created—behold me.
युगे युगे च स्रक्ष्यामि मार्कण्डेयाखिलं जगत् तदेतदखिलं सर्वं मार्कण्डेयावधारय
In every age, O Markandeya, I will create the entire world; understand, Markandeya, that all this, everything, is truly so.
शुश्रूषुर्मम धर्मांश्च कुक्षौ चर सुखं मम मम ब्रह्मा शरीरस्थो देवैश्च ऋषिभिः सह
Desiring to hear my teachings, dwell happily within my womb; Brahma abides in my body, together with the gods and sages.
व्यक्तमव्यक्तयोगं माम् अवगच्छासुरद्विषम् अहमेकाक्षरो मन्त्रस् त्र्यक्षरश्चैव तारकः
Understand me as the union of manifest and unmanifest, the enemy of the asuras; I am the single-syllabled mantra, and also the three-syllabled, the liberating one.
परस्त्रिवर्गाद् ओंकारस् त्रिवर्गार्थनिदर्शनः एवमादिपुराणेशो वदन्नेव महामतिः
Beyond the three aims of life, I am Om, the signifier of their meaning; thus spoke the wise lord of the ancient Purana.
वक्त्रमाहृतवानाशु मार्कण्डेयं महामुनिम् ततो भगवतः कुक्षिं प्रविष्टो मुनिसत्तमः
He swiftly drew in the great sage Markandeya through his mouth; then the best of sages entered the Lord's belly.
स तस्मिन्सुखमेकान्ते शुश्रूषुर्हंसमव्ययम् यो ऽहमेव विविधतनुं परिश्रितो महार्णवे व्यपगतचन्द्रभास्करे शनैश्चरन्प्रभुरपि हंससंज्ञितो ऽसृजज्जगद्विहरति कालपर्यये
There, in that secluded place, he happily listened to the imperishable Swan; I myself, having assumed various forms, moved in the great ocean, with the moon and sun gone, slowly wandering—the Lord, called the Swan, created and roamed the world in the course of time.
आपवः स विभुर्भूत्वा चारयामास वै तपः छादयित्वात्मनो देहं यादसां कुलसंभवम्
He, the radiant one, having become the waters, practiced austerity, concealing his own body, taking birth among the race of aquatic beings.
ततो महात्मातिबलो मतिं लोकस्य सर्जने महतां पञ्चभूतानां विश्वो विश्वमचिन्तयत्
Then the great-souled, exceedingly powerful one, intent on the creation of the world, reflected upon the great five elements and the universe.
तस्य चिन्तयमानस्य निर्वाते संस्थिते ऽर्णवे निराकाशे तोयमये सूक्ष्मे जगति गह्वरे
As he was reflecting, with the wind stilled and the ocean at rest, in a world subtle, deep, filled with water, and without space—
ईषत्संक्षोभयामास सो ऽर्णवं सलिलाश्रयः अनन्तरोर्मिभिः सूक्ष्मम् अथ छिद्रमभूत्पुरा
He slightly agitated the ocean, he who rests in the waters; then, by the endless waves, a subtle fissure arose in ancient times.
शब्दं प्रति तदोद्भूतो मारुतश्छिद्रसंभवः स लब्ध्वान्तरमक्षोभ्यो व्यवर्धत समीरणः
From that fissure, sound arose, and from it, wind was born; having found an opening, the wind, unshakable, grew strong.